“My memory is back, but I hope to keep that information confidential for now. I know I will have your full cooperation. I think it will be easier for me to gather the information and keep the suspect guessing that way.” He gave each man a chance to agree, which they did with a nod. “I was beaten and abducted and taken across the border to Mexico. Let me give you a clearer picture of my life and the events leading up to me being taken.”
Alex spent the next twenty minutes describing the details of his abduction to the men, starting off with the night he’d been run off the road. Nate encouraged him to be as specific as possible and Alex battled with his memory, trying to remember exact details.
When he was through, Nate gave a low whistle. “Well...now we know. It’s good that your memory is back, Alex. I’m happy about that.”
“I am, as well.” Alex took a sip of smooth Jim Beam and let it slide down his throat.
Gil scrubbed his chin and studied him carefully. “And you’re one hundred percent sure Paul Windsor is behind this?”
Alex stared at him and shook his head. “I can only be sure the sun will rise every morning, but I have enough evidence to put me at ninety-nine point nine percent.”
“Those are lofty odds,” Nate said. So far, he hadn’t touched his whiskey. The sheriff must be on the clock. “What proof do you have?”
“Windsor never liked me as Alex Santiago.”
“For good reason,” Nate said, his hand coming up, palm out. “Just keeping it real, Alex. You were spying on his company.”
“I did nothing illegal.”
“You dated his daughter and he was suspicious of you from the beginning,” Gil said. “There’s no doubt now, he hates you for what you’ve done. He’s come to me on three separate occasions urging me to make a motion to oust you from the club.”
Alex inhaled a sharp breath. “I hope that won’t happen. As for Cara, I was just about to tell her the truth, when I was kidnapped. I think Paul Windsor somehow figured out who I really was. I think he could not stand it when Cara and I got engaged, and he wanted me out of the picture. Maybe permanently.”
“So, you said you had evidence,” Nate said. “What is it?”
“My father has many connections in Mexico, as you might imagine. After my mother was kidnapped and killed, my father went to great lengths to see to our family’s safety. All through the years, he’s had eyes and ears out in all of Mexico. Right now, he’s got people working on my behalf to find out who is responsible for what happened to me. His reach is far longer than mine. So we’re checking out two sources right now.
“One, the house I was dumped into in Tijuana can be traced to Windsor indirectly. There’s a paper trail he probably figured would never be discovered tucked under one of his subsidiary companies. The house was once used for employees for a company Windsor owned years ago.”
“It’s a stretch. There’s no way to prove he’d known about the house,” Nate said. “Circumstantial at best.”
“There’s more,” Alex said. “My father’s contact spoke to a bartender at a local watering hole in Tijuana. The bartender claimed there is a man who comes in regularly when he is in town. This guy has a girlfriend who lives at the border. Anyway, the man is a real boozer and he was spending money left and right on one particular night. He whispered something in the bartender’s ear, boasting about how he’d made a load of dough for running someone off the road and dragging his sorry butt to Tijuana. The contact gave us a name. The man lives in a small town south of here.”
“A name? Now how did he get that?”
“The bartender was persuaded to give it up for a price.” Alex said. “Money talks and so does the del Toro name.”
Nate gave in and took a sip of whiskey. “Give me the name of this guy and the info you have on the location and I’ll run it down.”
“Done.”
“There’s no guarantee that this man will pan out,” Nate said. “Don’t get your hopes up.”
“And no way to know if the story is true. Could all be a coincidence or nothing at all,” Gil added. “But my instincts tell me Windsor might be behind it.”
“He has motive,” Nate said.
“I think he is guilty.” He didn’t want him to be, for Cara’s sake, but Alex’s instincts were leading him in Windsor’s direction. “For a time there, when I was just coming to in that house, I didn’t know if I was going to be killed or not.” Alex paused, a chill gripping him. “I got the hell out as fast as I could. If Windsor was behind the kidnapping and beating, then he’s a very dangerous man.”
“I agree. He needs to be reined in if he’s guilty. Mind if I run this by Bailey?” Gil asked. “Since she was in on the original investigation, she might be able to help.”
“I don’t mind,” Alex said. Bailey Collins had trained with the FBI. “She’s a smart woman.”
“The smartest. She ended up with me and Cade, didn’t she?”
“When you’re right, there is no way to deny it.” Alex pictured little four-year-old Cade Addison in Bailey’s loving arms, being a mother to the deserving little boy. “Give Bailey my best.”
“Will do.”
“Okay,” Nate said, rising from his seat. “Get me that info as soon as possible and, in the meantime, watch your back, del Toro.”
“I plan to.” His father insisted on extra security at Alex’s office and his home. He had agreed it was necessary. But there was no way he would walk around with a bodyguard dogging him. He’d had enough of that when he was a boy. Alex knew to be on guard now and to trust no one.
Nate began walking to the door. “Thanks again, Nate.” They shook hands. “I’ll be in touch.” Alex opened the door for him and turned to Gil, who was putting his hat on.
“Gil, if you have another minute, I want to run something by you,” He offered him his tumbler. “You can finish your drink while we talk.”
Gil’s brows rose, and he gripped the brim of his hat, tugging it off. “Uh, sure. What is it?” He swallowed a gulp and stared at the remaining whiskey in his glass.
Neither of them chose to sit again.
Alex lifted his tumbler and gave the contents a swirl. “What would you say if I developed and funded a college scholarship for the employees’ children here at TCC?”
Gil paused, sending him a serious stare. “Really?”
“Yes. I’ve been thinking of a way to make up for all the chaos I’ve caused. I want to show everyone who I really am.”
“You want to buy your way out of trouble with the other members?” The side of Gil’s mouth crooked up.
“That’s a harsh way of saying it.”
“That’s what everyone will think.”
“Regardless of what they think, the bottom line is I would be helping kids less fortunate than I was. That is what’s most important.”
“You’ve got a point there. Wouldn’t hurt your tarnished image, either. I’m all for mending fences, but there’s always gonna be some who will not be happy about this.”
Alex didn’t know if he would ever regain the trust he’d abused of the friends he’d made here. “My intention is to prove that I have changed and to make amends. I plan to name the scholarship after my mother. She was one who believed in higher education. She would approve of my idea.”
Softness entered Gil’s eyes. He knew the whole story about Elena del Toro.
Alex had been a young boy when his mother was kidnapped and murdered. A memory flashed of the day he’d been told his mother would not be coming home, and his throat thickened.
“Well, now, I’d have to bring it up for a vote,” Gil said. “I like the idea. Should’ve happened years ago. You’re making it hard for the members to vote this down. It’s either a yes vote, or they’ll look bad in the employees’ eyes. And we all know they have a gossip grapevine that
runs a mile long.”
“True, the odds are stacked in my favor, but that’s not the real reason I’m doing this.”
Gil’s lips slipped into a smug smile. “You’re a smart one, del Toro. You’ve made it so everyone benefits from your plan.”
He grinned. “I hope so. I may have been a renegade, but I’m a Texan now.”
Gil laughed. “You might just be that. Okay, work up your proposal for the scholarship and get back to me. If all looks well, we’ll put it to a vote.”
“Gracias, Addison.”
“Da nada, Alejandro.”
* * *
After his meeting with Gil and Nate, Alex stepped into the arched double-door entry of his Pine Valley house. Instantly, he was struck by the bright interior as sunlight filed into vaulted ceilings that gave an illusion of greater space to his already spacious mansion on the golf course. His steps echoed on the ornate stone foyer that opened in three directions to rooms for dining, entertaining and relaxing, depending on the pivot of his heels. The interior was furnished with exquisite taste by a decorator he’d commissioned when he’d bought the place, and the exterior’s best asset, aside from an oversize black bottom waterfall pool and lush grounds, was the absolute privacy the place provided.
Now, the house that was meant to allude to his persona and success as Alex Santiago wasn’t that any longer. The house he’d taken for granted when he’d started the charade wasn’t merely a vehicle to uphold his fake image.
It was home.
“Is that you, Alejandro?” His father’s distant voice carried from the kitchen. Even a simple question, when spoken from Rodrigo del Toro’s lips sounded like a rebuke.
“I’m home, Papa.” Alex closed his eyes. He wasn’t in the mood to spar with his father tonight.
His pivot took him toward the kitchen and onto the patio. He found his father seated on a lounge chair, feet up, with a tall pilsner glass in his hand. He sipped Mexican beer and gazed out at the grounds. “The duck pond is overflowing today.”
End-of-day light streamed onto the water, and ducks took off and landed like a busy day at Dallas Fort Worth Airport. Still, his father’s tone suggested sarcasm, whereas Alex enjoyed the view, ducks and all, after a long day at work, so he ignored the comment.
He took a seat beside his father on a padded wicker chair. “I’ve told the sheriff and TCC president our suspicions. Nate will investigate Windsor from his side and we will have our answer soon.”
Rodrigo’s smooth brown face bunched, making him look every bit of his fifty-five years. His eyes darkened to an inky glint as he snapped, “I do not trust anyone but my own men to see justice done. Windsor will pay if he was the man responsible for your abduction.”
“Papa, we are not in Mexico any longer. We’ve discussed this already. Your men gather the information, and then we turn it over to the law. It has to be this way.”
An almost imperceptible nod was the only assurance he gave Alex. Not a good sign, but the best he was going to get from his mulish father. “I don’t want any action taken unless we know for sure that Paul Windsor gave the orders to have me taken. Cara... She will be hurt by this. I can’t have that on my head, Papa. Cara is too important to me.”
“She will not speak to you. She will not have anything to do with you.”
Yesterday, he might have agreed with that, but what happened in the McDaniel’s stable today changed things. He gave Cara reason to believe that what they had wasn’t easily thrown away. She was like a blooming flower in his arms, opening to him by the sun of hope, but also petal delicate and completely vulnerable to his touch.
How many times lately had he dreamed of holding Cara that way and making her come apart in his arms? How many times had he prayed for another chance with her? “That’s not exactly true. I saw her today after I visited with Gabriella. I hope to repair the damage I’ve caused her.”
His father shrugged, keeping his focus on the pond where a mama duck ushered five baby ducklings out of the water. Alex would smile at that scene, if the man before him wasn’t trying his patience.
“Why bother with her? She is the daughter of our enemy. She is—”
Alex hardened his voice with conviction. “The woman I want.”
“Her father is ruthless. A murderer.”
“We don’t know that for sure.” Although Alex did not think he was wrong about the perpetrator of his abduction, he wasn’t sure murder was Windsor’s intent. “I am here, alive and well, taking breaths on my own.”
His father whirled on him, his eyes fierce. “By. The. Grace. Of. God. Dios, Alejandro, you were missing for a long time...an eternity for a father who did not know what was happening to his son. You cannot begin to know my heartache. Or that of your sister.”
Maybe Alex didn’t know the full extent of his heartache. Rodrigo prided himself on his children’s safety, especially after what had happened to his wife, Elena. His father had never forgiven himself for not fully protecting her and bore the guilt of her death on his shoulders.
“I cannot change what happened.” To my mother or to me. When his father had heard of Alex’s accident and amnesia, he’d gathered up Gabriella and come to America to help Alex regain his memory. By doing so, he’d told the world that Alex Santiago was a fraud. Unintentionally, as his father was frightened for him, Rodrigo had practically openly confessed to his plan to undermine and possibly buy out Windsor Energy. He’d acted out of love for his son, but the consequences of his actions had backfired on Alex. Especially with Cara. “I will be more careful now, Papa. I know Windsor is a dangerous man, but we must proceed slowly to catch him.”
“He will not get away with endangering my son’s life.” His father had a choke hold on the half-empty glass he held. Any second, Alex expected to see the glass shatter.
“No, he will not get away,” Alex said quietly, “if he is guilty.”
His father drained his beer and stood, imposing his breadth and height over him. Only a light gleam in the depths of his eyes told Alex of his father’s affection for him. “Your housekeeper, Maria, has made meat-filled empanadas and rice. They are not as good as your mother’s, but I am hungry. We will have dinner.”
“Sí, Papa. I’ll shower and change and then I’ll tell you my plans for Gabriella.”
“What of your sister, Alejandro?”
“We’ll discuss her marriage to Chance. I am throwing them a wedding here.”
His father’s eyes bore through him. “Another lost cause. A lot of good Joaquin did. The bodyguard did not do his job with Gabriella.”
“I’d say Joaquin excelled at his job. Gabriella found love and has never been happier.” Score one for his sister. “Is that not what you want, Papa? Your children’s happiness?”
Rodrigo blinked, pondering a question that should be answered easily by a parent. “Exactly. Sí. I want Gabriella happy, but not with the gringo. He is not the man for her.”
“Papa, she thinks he is. And she’s not going to change her mind. You can accept it or lose Gabriella forever.”
Rodrigo’s eyebrows rose and a look of astonishment stole over his expression. Alex didn’t care. His father had to face facts. His children had grown up. They made their own decisions now. Good or bad, he couldn’t dictate their lives any longer.
Alex turned away. Score one for him, too. Gabriella wasn’t the only one to make Rodrigo del Toro see the light.
* * *
Her fingers strummed the tabletop, tap, tap, tapping as Cara waited for her afternoon date. The Royal Diner was known for their decadent chocolate cream and fruit pies. Normally the two didn’t go hand in hand, but at Royal, they knew how to mix the cocoa confection with berries to make a winning combination. Usually, Cara didn’t indulge, but today she could almost taste it on her lips. Today, she craved chocolate.
Since when
had she caved in to her cravings anyway?
Her mind instantly jumped as she pictured Alex satisfying another of her cravings. Yesterday, she’d craved him and he hadn’t disappointed her. His smooth baritone voice had stirred lusty memories, the dark penetrating fire in his eyes had scorched her skin and a single well-placed touch of his hand had sent her entire body soaring. If she kept running into him, it wouldn’t be long before she melted entirely into a mass of forgiveness. She wasn’t ready for that. Maybe in time she’d find a way to forgive him, but she wouldn’t forget what he’d done to her. Right now the pain was too fresh, too raw.
Her heart was still broken.
Last night, after rehashing, and secretly reliving, their meeting in the stables, she’d come to the conclusion that the best way to protect herself from further injury was to keep her distance from him. If she didn’t see Alex, her wounds would heal in time and she could move on.
Her gaze shifted to the diner’s window-glass doors. Where was Gabriella anyway? She was late and Cara’s chocolate craving was going into overdrive.
She’d waved off the coffeepot-bearing waitress two minutes ago. Babies and caffeine didn’t mix.
Now the waitress was back with a tall glass of orange juice. “Here we go.” She set it down on the table in front of her.
“Thank you.”
“Would you like to see the menu now or wait for your friend?”
“I’m here, I’m here.” Gabriella’s heels rapped against the checkerboard floor tiles as she climbed into the booth, slinging her purse down. “Sorry I’m late, Cara,” she said, offering a smile.
“Oh, it’s no problem.” Gabriella’s dark hair, pulled back into a tight knot, added to her Latin beauty. Cara didn’t know too many women who could get away with wearing such a severe hairstyle. But Gabriella rocked it. Her features were exquisitely sharp, with skin offering a natural sheer glow. Her smile was sweet and friendly. To think, at one time, Gabriella was jealous of her. Thank goodness that was all behind them now. Gabriella was the right woman for Chance. And they deserved a happy ending. “Is anything wrong?”
THE TEXAS RENEGADE REURNS Page 6
